2013 Frugal Living Challenge

LolaLemon

Rising, how do you get your spread sheet to look like a spreadsheet on here?

mines just looks amess!

1 Budget Bud 2 dt Spent Left Jan Council Tax (inc Water) 1080.00 90.00 284.00 796.00 284.00 Child Care 2300.00 191.67 2300.00 Gas/Electricity 480.00 40.00 40.00 440.00 40.00 C/H Cover 0.00 0.00 0.00 Bldgs/Cont Ins 612.00 51.00 612.00 Phone & B/band 432.00 36.00 432.00 TV Licence 146.00 12.17 12.12 133.88 12.12 Mobile Phone 210.00 17.50 210.00 Mortgage 5400.00 450.00 423.30 4976.70 423.30 Home Improvements 0.00 0.00 0.00 Lyle's Activities 400.00 33.33 400.00 Clothes 0.00 0.00 0.00 Presents 0.00 0.00 0.00 Car Insurance 0.00 0.00 0.00 Breakdown Cover 0.00 0.00 0.00 Road Tax 110.00 9.17 110.00 MOT 0.00 0.00 0.00 Service 0.00 0.00 0.00 Petrol 910.00 75.83 910.00 Life Insurance 1 113.00 9.42 8.56 104.44 8.56 Life Insurance 2 180.00 15.00 180.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 Groceries 0.00 0.00 0.00 Toiletries/Cleaning 0.00 0.00 0.00 Anything Else 0.00 0.00 0.00

vintagebrighton

Thanks all, I'm checking out Pinterest now.. looks a bit confusing but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it eventually!

Now spreadsheets...... hmm, never have got the hang of those

Work day today and another NSD.... yaaay. Well, I did get a couple of bits of food but that was out of the shopping money jar which is completely separate. I did look longingly at the magazines but consoled myself with the thought that I'll be getting some very cheap ones in the post soon. Temptation avoided!

Have also discovered the competitions board.. very addictive. I could be ebaying instead but hey

debbiedeejay

Just popping my head round the corner to say how sorry I was to hear the news regarding Chika -my thoughts are with you my dear and I am so glad you were not hurt - I hope things settle down soon for you

Baking_Mad

OLDBILL wrote: »

Hi Baking Mad, I am in the process of switching from santander to halifax for the same reason. I applied the last week of nov and thry have only just created the account. Also as my partner applied, it is only in his name but our santander one was a joint acc. They said on the phone to just pop in and they could put me on... so we drove 10 miles with both kids in tow solely for that purpose and they told me i would have to book an appointment... none avail until next week! If you do it, i would advise keeping your old account open as back up x

Oh, dear! Thanks for the warning. Our nearest branch is 40 miles away!!! So def wouldn't be fun just popping in! That said my OH is planning to keep his old account open anyway. Thank you

skint_chick

cw18 wrote: »

TBH the thing is past it's best. To keep the fridge cool enough I have to run it so the back ices up, and it's been like that for 4 or 5 years so it's not the door opening that's causing the problem. The fronts of the freezer drawers are all smashed as well

Maybe best to bit the bullet and get a new one then, mine was £300 and is still going strong since 2004 so fingers crossed your new one earns its keep in saved electricity.

Baking Mad - I switched to Halifax a couple of years ago and they sent me a list of the direct debits and standing orders and I ticked the ones I wanted switched and they did it. Surprisingly had no problems at all, and I have quite a lot of dd's. I opened mine over the phone and got an account number and sort code straight away. I get my fiver at the beginning of every month. The only thing to watch is that you don't go overdrawn - it's £1 a day:eek: but their internet banking is so easy to use.

mummy2threeboys

hi all popping in xx Those thinking of switching banks dont forget to chek top cash back/quidco as sometimes you get cashback for swapping, i got £33 for moving to santander..im going to close that account next year as we dont have a local branch anymore! Hopeing natwest or lloyds as thats all we have now and its a 3 mile round walk or bus trip just to pay money in!

Caught up with some surveys decided to give these areally good go again. Baby spilt coffee on my laptop thought it was a gonna as it was typing extra letters..meaning i couldnt even sign in to my laptop, thankfuly it dried out! I also broke the hinge under the n key, looked on ebay and saw they are £3 a key..and decided to take the tab key off (i never use the tab key!) and use that hinge then just super gue the tab key into place..it still works lol and ive saved £3, Also the freeser drawer broke in half its £20 to replace so dh is coming home with zip ocks to attach to the front to stop the food falling out..im so tight. Paid some more bills ..also naughty just bought dh anniversary tickets for us both to go see jack dee at local theatre £42 But got £22.50 in cash back. , Making woolton pie (veg and oat)..paid money off debt yeeeh and coming in for debt free in 11 months..will update sig Have a good day all.

tessie_bear

hope everyone is going well...i have spent a bit too much on food this week but have got a few christmas bargains that will be useful in the coming weeks...i need to really get to grips with going into a shop for something and leaving with said thing and not a load of other things...

could i suggest to anyone that housework is a cheap workout ...i ahev just done a bit of vacing and changed the beds and feel done in..no need for a gym membership here

take care tess

seriouslyfrugal

Hi

Just popped into Lidl and as of tomorrow ( 10.01.13 ) they have alpro soya milk 1 litre cartons for 99p each I know several of you are using soya so thought this may me of some use

have a good day everyone

OLDBILL_2

I don't know if I have this right but I think I have worked out how to get £250 just from banking!

Im switching to Halifax so that's £100 plus £5 per month = £160 this year.

Then we have around £3000 as a savings pot (we dip into this though for car ins, presents, home ins etc). Santander are offering 3% interest on amounts over £3000 in their 123 current account = £90.

Then they offer 2% on electric = £14
3% on phones = £18
1% on water bills = £3

£125 in all minus £2 per month charges = £101

I must have this wrong??!

slscarborough

Trying to be very frugal in order to buy my first house. Have set all my budgets and all is going very well. Have bought all birthday presents for the next 5 months in the sales. Presents was one area I needed to cut back on. I spent a staggering 2130.25 on presents last year!!